One on One with Ian Rankin

By Allison Forsythe

There was a lot of excited chatter in the church before the
event began—then lots of applause when Sean Wilson, OIWF Artistic Director,
introduced Ian Rankin. The funds raised are used to support the OIWF's literacy programs
across Ottawa, and Sean Wilson noted that 500 students will benefit from the
program next year—thanks to Ian Rankin (and to everyone else who'd attended!)

Host Alan Neal, who has interviewed Rankin several times,
started a very natural conversation about Rankin's well-known character, John
Rebus. "We're more alike than we've ever been," noted Rankin, adding
that he was young, unmarried, and without children when he wrote the first
Rebus novel. Today, however, he is noticing that the years are catching up with
him. In one of the books, Rankin explained, another character essentially calls
Rebus a vinyl guy in a digital world, and he feels that way himself sometimes. "I
can be more empathetic [toward Rebus now] than was previously the case,"
he said.

Much to the audience's delight, it became quite clear that
Alan Neal has a bit of a crush on one of Rankin's other characters, Detective
Sergeant Siobhan Clarke. Although it pained him, Neal had to ask why John Rebus
and Siobhan Clarke have never jumped into bed together. Aside from the fact
that their relationship is more "avuncular", Rankin was quick to
point out that "it would be a terrible experience for both of
them—especially her." Rankin also explained that he would rather not write
those scenes. When his editor asked him to remove a sex scene in his third
book, Rankin was relieved. "I'm not keen on following Rebus into the
bedroom, either," he admitted.

As the discussion turned to some of the fundamental elements
that make up Rebus's character, Neal asked if Rankin shares Rebus's hunger for
truth. Rebus needs to know the truth for his own satisfaction so that he can
move on to the next thing, but Rankin said that he actually likes loose ends.
He mentioned Caledonian Antisyzygy (a term he highly recommends for playing
Scrabble, even though you likely won't find enough tiles with the letter "y") and that it's something that he
likes to explore. Often, he'll read the newspaper or an article in a magazine,
picking away at it by considering what it "says about us as humans, as
Scottish society," and he will work through some of those themes and
contradictions in his work.

For his most recent novel, Saints of the Shadow Bible, Rankin was inspired by some stories and
anecdotes of retired cops who worked during the 1970s and 80s. He is often
invited to police retirement parties and joked that he has to run to the
washroom to jot down notes on toilet paper when a retiree's story sparks an
idea. Overall, though, the stories made him think about Rebus and how he would
have been as a much younger man. Was there a time when he was more idealistic?
Did something happen? The new novel delves into some of Rebus's past, so Rankin
said that he scrolled through all the (microfilm) issues of The Scotsman from 1983 and picked out
things that he thought would catch Rebus's eye. "I was looking at Rebus's
1983," he emphasized, "not mine." (Nobody could picture Rebus
dancing to Spandau Ballet, as it turned out...)

As a special treat, Neal invited Laura Smith on stage as she
had won a contest to have her name as a character in Saints of the Shadow Bible. To earn that honour, Smith contributed
to a fundraiser contest for the Ottawa-based Shepherds of Good Hope—which is happening again this year!
Neal pointed out that the "Laura Smith" in the novel is a significant
character (a crime reporter, in fact) and she actually gets to challenge Rebus.
Rankin and Smith read a scene aloud that involved an interaction between
"Laura Smith" and Rebus—and then the real Laura Smith quipped that
her parents had likely purchased every copy of Saints of the Shadow Bible in Calgary since her name is in it.

Finally, the discussion turned to Rankin's writing habits. "I'm
murder to live with when I'm writing a book," he said. He doesn't work
with notes or even do much pre-planning, so he is working everything out (the
main plot, all the sub-plots, character interactions, and how everything fits)
as he writes the first draft, which he writes quickly so that he doesn't forget
anything. "If you don't know who the killer is when you write the book,
chances are good that the reader doesn't either," he said with a laugh. He
also joked about a time when he was finishing the first draft of a book and
still hadn't figured out who the killer would be. There were four or five
characters, he said, "and I thought: Well,
it could be any one of you..."

It may be encouraging (or not!) for aspiring writers to know
that even with a solid body of work completed, Rankin still doesn't feel like a
master novelist. "I really thought it would get easier, [but] it gets
harder," he explained. "Every time I start, it's like I have to learn
all over again. It's why I don't teach creative writing—I don't know how to
write creatively!"

After some questions from CBC's All in a Day listeners and a couple from the live audience, there
were more rapturous applause before everyone leapt out of their seats to form
the line for Rankin's book signing. Neal was an excellent host, Rankin was a
fantastic guest—and after we got home (and my husband had had some single malt
in Rankin's honour), we agreed that it was a great night and that we would
definitely encourage people to attend the event if Rankin comes back to Ottawa
with his next book.